Analysis of Aunt Alexandra
In a feminist lens, Aunt Alexandra is a prime example of what most men expected women to be during 1960's should act and present themselves as. Aunt Alexandra is a very proper, elegant, and ladylike individual. She keeps herself well maintained and is very straight-minded on how women should act during her time. As she sees Scout acting somewhat like a tomboy it becomes her duty to transform her into more of what a 'women should be like' in society. Often times it is the men who create stereotypes for women but in this case it is Alexandra who makes them trying to uphold what the Finch women are meant to be like. "This was her campaign to teach me to be a lady" (Lee 229). Seeing Scout act rough and riggid with the boys of Maycomb, especially Jem, makes Alexandra very uncomfortable and forces her to want to change Scout's habits and lifestyle. By doing so, it upholds both society's and Alexandra's ideal of what women should act like.
Analysis of Jem
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem gets this idea that women are very whiney and frigid and don't do as many outgoing things as men do. As Jem, Dill, and Scout decide to go to Boo Radley's house one night, Scout gets scared after being told not to by Atticus and begins to complain to Jem about how bad the idea is. "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home - I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day!" (Lee 67). By calling Scout a girl, Jem is implying that all women, or girls, are overly-cautious, whiney, hesitant, frail, or afraid. He has the perspective on women that many men did throughout the 1960's.
Analysis of Scout
Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout had the attitude that she does not want to be frail like other stereotypical women within Maycomb. She wants to be outgoing by climbing trees and rustling through the dirt oppose to gardening and cleaning. "Jem was telling told me I was being a girl" (Lee 32). So as Jem begins to torment Scout about being a girl, it upsets her because she doesn't want to be like society's perspective on a women's characteristics. So as Aunt Alexandra begins to tell Scout that she needs to become more of a lady, it upsets Scout and repels her from being more ladylike so she remains rough and tough.
Analysis of Miss Maudie
In a feminist perspective Miss Maudie shows the common belief and expectations of a woman's stance in social society. When the trial is beginning to rise up throughout the town and becomes the main attraction, she has various excuses on why she should not attend it. "For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a women" (Lee 221). In this section of the book, Miss Maudie and others around her (mostly the male population of Maycomb) belief that women should not serve on on the jury and that only men should have that right. So wouldn't that affect a trial against a girl, wouldn't the overpopulation of the male audience cause a biased outcome? People within the small town of Maycomb believe that "It's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's" (Lee 221). Although Miss Maudie is very elegant, graceful, and ladylike as what most men in Maycomb would assume she was, that doesn't necessarily mean she is 'frail' or weak and cannot handle the intensity of such a dramatic case like Tom Robinson's. Women should have the right to choose whether they wan't to be apart of the jury or not, not all women are the same and a woman knows herself better than anyone, especially a man, ever could.